Migration and Enterpreneurial Experience of Female Returnees on the Croatian Adriatic Coast and Islands

Return movements of women migrants to their home countries are in the focus of this work. Discussion is based on the life stories of the three migrants/returnees from the northeastern Adriatic coast and islands who have emigrated to Italy and Germany. Through the analysis of interviews the process of return to the homeland is examined as well as motivation and the reasons that prompted it, the context in which the return was carried out, the readjustment to the new/old surroundings and the role of the returnee at an individual and social level in the country of origin. Aside from the realisation of repatriation to the homeland, the returnees invested their capital acquired in the country of immigration into their hometowns: Zadar and Istrian coast and the island of Cres. Migration experience has enabled them to accumulate the capital necessary for their successful return, reintegration, and realization of entrepreneurial ideas. Their entrepreneurial initiatives have a positive impact on the economic development of the place and country of origin.